Various consumables are used for analyses in conventional analyzers which analyze samples, such as blood and urine of human or animal origin (hereinafter referred to as “analyte”). Examples of such consumables include analysis reagents which process analyte to a condition suited for analysis, washing reagent which is used to wash the analyzer at the start and end of an analysis operation, reactor vessels which are used to react the reagent and the sample, and disposable nozzles which are used to aspirate the sample. Predetermined quality and performance is expected of the consumables used in the analyzer. The analyzer can output accurate examination results insofar as the consumables used are of proper quality and within their expiration dates.
When the analyzer and the consumables are produced by the same manufacturer, the analyzer and the consumables can be fine tuned during parallel and simultaneous development so as to output optimally accurate analysis results when used together. When only the analyzer is developed anew so as to use conventional consumables, the analyzer may be fine tuned so as to output optimally accurate analysis results using the conventional consumables.
In this regard, Japanese Laid-Open Patent Publication No. 2007-333466 and Japanese Laid-Open Patent Publication No. 2003-248005, for example, disclose analyzers configured so that the analyzer records the information of the examination reagent to be used by reading an RFID tag or barcode adhered to the reagent container.
The conventional analyzers disclosed in Japanese Laid-Open Patent Publication No. 2007-333466 and Japanese Laid-Open Patent Publication No. 2003-248005 are not designed for use with the reagents that are unexpected by the manufacturer of the analyzer. Hence, when, for example, there is a mechanical blockage or problem with the analysis result, it is very difficult examine the cause of the problem despite claims from the operator or manager of the analyzer if the analysis operation has been performed using reagent from an unexpected manufacturer. Particularly in the case of analyzer which analyze clinical samples and requires a high degree of reliability concerning the analysis results, when an analysis result error does occur, it is extremely important to quickly examine the cause and prevent recurrence of the problem.
An object of the present invention is to eliminate these problems by providing an analyzer capable of suitably managing information of consumables even when a consumable is used which is unexpected by the manufacturer.